Whitman, Brown cancel KGO radio debate

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California's gubernatorial candidates have pulled the plug on a long-anticipated radio debate today in San Francisco with KGO's Ronn Owens.

Political analysts say the move allows them to dodge tough questions in a race roiled by the story of an undocumented housekeeper who worked for Republican Meg Whitman.

Representatives for Whitman and her opponent, Democrat Jerry Brown, said the decision to cancel the hourlong debate this morning was "mutual." They added that the meeting had not been finalized.

KGO producer Mark Silverman said the candidates had agreed to debate but that he received a phone call Friday from Rob Stutzman, a senior adviser to Whitman, and Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Brown, canceling their candidates' participation.

The two candidates, who have debated twice, are scheduled for their final face-off on Oct. 12 at Dominican College in San Rafael, which will be moderated by broadcaster Tom Brokaw.

As voters begin receiving their mail ballots this week, and with the Nov. 2 election four weeks from today, political observers said the candidates' move to withdraw from the only radio debate probably had much to do with the potentially tough format.

"Ronn Owens is tough - it's a call-in show where they'll get real-people questions," said Barbara O'Connor, a Sacramento State University political communications professor emeritus. She said the cancellation is a loss for state voters.

"Californians deserve to hear them in every forum possible, and it's silly not to do it. Having as many debates as possible, in as many possible venues," she added, should be the goal in a race for who will head the nation's biggest state.

But the Whitman and Brown campaigns are weighing the effects of last week's revelations about Whitman's hiring of undocumented immigrant Nicandra Diaz Santillan, her housekeeper from 2000 to 2009.

Diaz said Whitman and her husband ignored a notice from the Social Security Administration in 2003 that asked them to double-check information about her that conflicted with the agency's records.

The former eBay CEO has said she was unaware of the immigration status of Diaz, who provided false documents, and had to fire her when she discovered the truth.

Whitman, who has said she will be "tough as nails" on illegal immigration and has repeatedly called for employers to be "held accountable" for hiring undocumented immigrants, faced questions on the matter at Saturday's debate in Fresno.

Whitman charged that Brown or his surrogates had a role in what she says is a political "smear."

'On the defensive'

A veteran Republican strategist familiar with the stories, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the story has put the Whitman campaign "off message and put them on the defensive - so in that sense they lost a week."

But he added: "She has time and resources to recover."

Most California political observers agree the situation differs from another well-known "nanny-gate" in 1994, when Republican Rep. Michael Huffington, running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein, admitted just days before the election that he knew his longtime nanny was an illegal immigrant and that she was fired before the campaign.

By contrast, Whitman's so-called October surprise came a full month in advance - a long time in politics.

The Republican nominee for state controller, state Sen. Tony Strickland of Thousand Oaks (Ventura County), downplayed the cancellation of the radio debate, and characterized the housekeeper issue as a minor distraction that will take a backseat by election day.

"At the end of the day, people will get back to focusing in on the issues everyone cares about - jobs and the economy," Strickland said. "People understand what she did at eBay, how she created jobs in the private sector."

He said next Tuesday's televised debate with Brokaw will generate far more interest, particularly among independent voters who have not decided which candidate to vote for.

Political timing

"It will be right at the time people will be making the decision," Strickland said, adding that Brown has not faced many questions on his possible role in the housekeeper issue.

Jon Fleischman, a vice chairman of the state Republican Party and publisher of the popular conservative blog FlashReport, said he expects voters to recognize the timing of the housekeeper's allegations as political and be even more suspicious when they see Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred's name attached.

But he acknowledged that immigration "is not an issue Meg Whitman wants to talk about" given the divisions within the Republican Party over the issue. He said Whitman probably was "not in a hurry to go on a radio talk show" that would keep the housekeeper story alive into a new week.

Brown's reasoning is likely different, Fleischman said, noting that Brown, the state attorney general, often strays off topic.

"From his campaign's perspective, why take the chance of changing the subject here? It's a mutually agreeable decision here - (both campaigns) are most interested in minimizing any potential downside."